This Time Around
by Dorthey Star
Summary: [complete In the sequel to Lily Evans, we learn about the lives and loves of Lily and her friends during their second year at Hogwarts.
1. Default Chapter

This Time Around

This Time Around 

Sequel to _Lily Evans_

Chapter 1

By Dorthey Star 

Yes, this story is the sequel to my story Lily Evans (it is stated above). You do not have to read Lily Evans before you read This Time Around, but some things (like Red Rosie) would make more sense if you did. If you want a summary of what happened in Lily Evans, you can e-mail me at Lady_Amanda@cheerful.com J

_This Time Around_ is dedicated to all my lovely _Lily Evans_ reviewers. 

This chapter is dedicated to the late Douglas Adams

***

_Lily, _

_Mum is taking me and my little sister Abbi to Diagon Alley on Friday. Can you meet me at Madame Malkin's at nine o'clock? I hope to see you then. _

_See you, _

_Maria_

Lily put down the letter. 

"Mum may I go? Please?" Lily begged her mother. The whole Evans' family (excluding Petunia who ran out of the room when the owl had flown through the window) was sitting at the breakfast table. 

"I guess." Mrs. Evans looked over at Mr. Evans who nodded in agreement. 

"Thank you!" Lily ran upstairs and wrote a letter to Maria saying that she could. 

Friday morningLily, Daisy, Mr. Evans, and Mrs. Evans all took the underground to London and walked to Diagon Alley. 

"G'morning!" said Tom the toothless innkeeper. 

"We need to go to Diagon Alley." Mr. Evans told Tom. 

"Right. Follow me." Tom took them to the back alley and showed them which brick to tap. It was five minutes after nine when they arrived at Madame Malkin's. Maria's parents whisked Mr. and Mrs. Evans off for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron leaving Lily, Daisy, Maria, and Abbi with money to shop with. 

"Lily, this is my sister Abbi. Abbi, this is Lily Evans." Maria said. Abbi had large brown eyes and brown hair. 

"This is my sister Daisy. Daisy, this is Maria Blankenship." Lily, Maria, and Abbi (who was starting Hogwarts that year) all stepped up to get fitted for Hogwarts robes. 

"Where's your other sister? Petunia, wasn't it?" Maria asked. 

"She didn't want to come." Lily grinned as she thought back to that morning. Mrs. Evans had asked Petunia if she wanted to come (being the polite woman that she is). Petunia had screamed "NO!" and ran out of the room. 

When they all had new robes (except for Daisy who, of course, wanted some but wasn't getting any) they went to Flourish and Blotts. They were bent over a display when Lily felt a pair of hands being clapped over her eyes. 

"Guess who?" an amused voice said into her ear. 

"Ummm…Queen Elizabeth?" Lily guessed. 

"Guess again."

"Professor Dumbledore?" 

"Nope."

"Snape?"

"Ugh! No!" 

"Sirius?" 

"Yup!" the hands were taken away. Lily turned around to see James Potter and Sirius Black standing behind her with identical grins of their faces. She rolled her eyes. 

"Hi Red Rosie!" James said cheerfully. 

"How I had hoped that you would have forgotten about that." Lily muttered. 

"How were your summers, you two?" Sirius asked, slinging an arm across each other the girls' shoulders. 

"Horrible." They both said together and laughed. James was playing a game with Daisy. She was on his back, laughing, as he spun her around. 

"I dare say that you two know my sister Daisy." Lily giggled. 

"This is my sister Abbi. She's staring Hogwarts this year. Don't terrorize her too much. You'll corrupt her for life." Maria smiled, "Abbi, this is James Potter and Sirius Black." 

"Would we corrupt her?" Sirius asked innocently. 

"Wait, don't answer that one." James grinned. 

"So do you two have all your school supplies?" Lily asked and picked Daisy up. 

"Yup. Are you done shopping, too?" James asked. 

"No. we only have our books and robes. There's still the Apothecary to visit, and…shoot. Where else do we have to go Lily?" Maria asked her, looking at Lily. 

"Umm…I think that's it, right?" Lily looked at James and Sirius. 

"Don't ask us. Our parents did our shopping." Sirius shrugged. 

"Can you imagine _my_ parents doing my shopping?" Lily laughed, trying to picture a pair of Muggles shopping for magic supplies. James and Sirius stayed with Lily and Maria as they finished their shopping. James decided to be nice and bought Daisy a pretty jewelry box that had a ballerina that danced inside and played music. Daisy decided that she liked him and that Lily should marry him. 

"I'll see you Sunday!" Lily called to her friends as she left with her family. Mrs. Evans saw that box that Daisy was holding. 

"Where did you get that from?" She asked Daisy and Lily. 

"A boy gave him to me." Daisy said, smiling very largely (does that make sense?). 

"Daisy, how many times have I told you not to take gifts from strangers?" Mrs. Evans said angrily, "especially magic ones!" 

"But mum-"

"And Lily!" Mrs. Evans exclaimed, "how could you let her take it from that person?" Mrs. Evans had her hands on her hips and looked like she was about to explode. 

"MUM!" Lily and Daisy yelled together as their mother was taking in a breath to yell again. 

"The boy that bought her the box is a friend of mine from school." Lily said. 

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?" Mrs. Evans looked more relaxed. 

"Because you wouldn't listen." 

Lily woke up early on September 1st. She couldn't wait to go back to Hogwarts. 

"Bye mum, bye Daisy!" Lily called as she crossed over the barrier. Maria came through right behind her. 

"Lily! I tried to get your attention, but I couldn't. Let's get on the train. I can't wait to get away from Abbi." Maria and Lily climbed onto the train. They were joined moments later by James, Remus, Sirius, and (to Lily and Maria's dismay) Peter. 

"Hey James, that box you gave Daisy almost got us into real trouble." Lily put on a high false voice, imitating her mother. "How many times have I told you not to takes gifts from strangers?" they all cracked up laughing…all except Peter. He obviously didn't understand the joke, nor did he know who Daisy was. 

"Did you get yourself a six-year-old girlfriend, James?" Remus laughed. 

"No, but Lily's sister, Daisy does insists that Lily and I marry. Of course, we have no plans of listening to her…well, I don't, and by the repulsed look on Red Rosie's face, I think that she doesn't either." James smiled in a carefree way. The door opened and Abbi came in. Maria groaned loudly. 

"Maria…can I sit with you?" Abbi asked. Maria looked to her friends for help. Sirius, of course offered to help. 

"Sure you can. Right here next to Maria." Sirius led Abbi to the empty seat by Maria (who stuck her tongue out at Sirius). The rest of the ride was enjoyable to most of the people. Maria wasn't having fun, and Lily seemed sad. 

When they arrived at Hogwarts, Maria grabbed Lily's wrist and started to run (no doubt to get a carriage without Abbi). 

"Hey, Maria, you did know that first years go across the lake…Abbi couldn't ride with us…" Lily said in an attempt to get Maria to stop running. It worked. 

"Right…urm…" Maria was speechless. They walked the rest of the way to the carriages. 

After the feast, Lily collapsed in a chair in the Commonroom. 

"Lily?" Sirius said quietly when no one was around. 

"Hmmmm?" she murmured sleepily while trying to decide if it was worth the effort to climb the stairs to her dorm or just fall asleep where she was. 

"Can I talk to you out in the, um, hall for a minute?" Sirius sounded more nervous than Lily had ever heard him. However, this did not register in her mind as she was half asleep. 

"Tomorrow, Si…" Lily murmured. She drifted off into peaceful dreams full of broomsticks and flowers. 

**Disclaimer**: in this chapter Maria and Abbi (I love that spelling!) are mine! Everything else is JKR's. except the nickname Si for Sirius…that's rave's I _think_…er…its somebody's I dunno. 

**Author's Note**: you thought you were rid of me for the month of June, eh? Well I just missed all my lovely reviewers so much **cough cough** yeah right **cough cough** erm…anyways. 40 thousand point to whoever can guess what Sirius wants to ask Lily (_come on!_ Somebody should be able to guess it….i might not post the next chapter until someone guesses it J). Yes, I know that this wasn't very long, but, well, I thought that it was a good part to end it. So :P to all you who complain. Look at it this way: I should get the next part out soon….well I hope to. I hope to get chapter two and _maybe_ chapter three (depending on how much time I get on the computer and how well my ideas roll) up before Saturday June 9th which is when I leave for vacation and won't be back until Saturday June 16th. doesn't sound like long to you, but believe me, it might be heaven for me J. 

Also, I'm er having a bit of trouble with this, so if there's a bunch of junk (writing) at the top, ignore it.

Love always, 

Dorthey Star 

Oh yes, I'm looking for a beta reader. Probably not for this fic (I'll email you about that Amanda) but for Moonstruck or any other fic that I decide to write. I might have two beta readers. Preferably someone that has very good English skills and can receive attachments in emails. If you are interested, email me at Lady_Amanda@cheerful.com Thanks! J also, I'll beta read for anyone as long as I'm familiar with the subject of the fic (or originals). 


	2. A Secret Meeting

This Time Around 

This Time Around 

Sequel to Lily Evans

By Dorthey Star

Chapter two

This chapter is dedicated to Cassandra Claire and the other great fan fic authors that are leaving or have left (or in Cassandra Claire's case, kicked off of) ffn.

Sirius did not have a chance to talk to Lily about whatever it was he wanted to talk to her about until right before the Halloween Feast. 

"Lily! LILY!" Sirius hissed to her in History of Magic the day of the Feast. 

"Huh…?" Lily murmured. She was having day dreams about killing Snape. _Wait,_ she thought, _I'm having day dreams about that slimy git?_ She shuddered as she thought about that. She looked over at Sirius as acknowledged his presence. He slipped her a note. 

_Red Rosie, _

_I really need to talk to you…alone. When can we talk in private? If we need to I can nick James's Invisibility Cloak. That way we can talk when we're supposed to be asleep or something if it comes to that. _

_Si _

_ _

Lily thought about this for a moment. Suddenly she remembered how strange Sirius had been acting after they'd gotten back from the beginning of the year feast. She took out her quill and (oddly enough) red ink and answered him on the piece of parchment. 

_Si, _

_I would prefer it if you didn't call me Red Rosie. Remind me to hex you for that later. What do you need to talk to me about? We have a free period today…we could talk then. James has an Invisibility Cloak? Oh wait, I knew that. I think I was separated from the Magic world too long…_

_Lily_

_ _

Lily slipped the note back to Sirius. She pretended to be listening to Professor Binns and what he was saying. Sirius slipped the paper back to her. 

_Lil, _

_What do you have against 'Red Rosie' ? I'd rather not tell you right now what I need to talk to you about. I'm busy free period. How about tonight after the feast?_

Si 

Lily read the note, wondering what could make Sirius too nervous to tell her now. She chewed on her lips for a second before replying 

_Si,_

_Busy, eh? Well, I guess after the feast would work (as long as we don't get caught!) you'd be in very much trouble if we did!_

_Lil_

_ _

Sirius scribbled something on the parchment and handed it back to her as the bell ran. 

_Lil,_

_Meet me in the Commonroom at 11:00. wear a cloak and come alone. _

_Si_

The feast seemed to go by slowly for Lily. Finally it was over. Lily walked back up to Gryffindor Tower with Maria. 

"Lily," Maria said, stopping suddenly on the stairs to the girls' dorms, "What's wrong?"

"Huh? What do you mean by 'what's wrong?'" Lily asked, guiding her friend the rest of the way up the stairs. 

"You've been unusually quiet tonight and at the feast you kept staring at Sirius," a smile crept onto Maria's face as they arrived in the 2nd year girls' dorm, "I think _somebody_ likes Sirius." She said quietly into Lily's ear so that Natalie and Jessica wouldn't hear. 

"I do not!" Lily answered a bit too quickly, causing Maria to become more suspicious of her friend. 

"Uh huh. Sure, Lily, I believe you." Maria grinned. 

"Good night!" Lily changed into her pajamas and crawled under the covers.

Hours later, Lily woke up. her first thought was: _it can't be morning already, can it?_ Followed by _what time is it? I'm supposed to meet Sirius!_ She found her watch on the bedside table and looked at it. It was 11:07. Lily, cursing under her breath, pulled on a pair of shoes and her cloak. She stole down the staircase. Her heart sunk. There was no one in the Commonroom. As turned around to go back up the stairs, Sirius was suddenly standing in front of her. She cursed loudly. 

"You'll wake up the whole house if you talk much louder than that," Sirius scolded with a smile. 

"You scared me half to death, appearing out of nowhere like that!" Lily hissed angrily. 

"You're late, but come on. Get under the cloak." Sirius held up the silvery cloak and they both got under it. 

"Where are we going?" Lily yawned. 

"The lake." Sirius and Lily walked along in silence. When they left the front doors, Lily pulled her cloak closer to her to shield herself from the cold wind. They stood in silence for a moment when they reached the lake. Sirius took the cloak off them. Finally, Lily spoke. 

"What did you want to talk to me about, Si?" she asked softly. 

"You can't tell anybody that I told you this. Remus would kill me." This made Lily more confused than ever. Remus was a sweet boy who'd never kill a fly. Well, maybe a fly or a mosquito. 

"Why? What could possibly be that bad?" Lily asked Sirius. 

"Do you ever wonder where he goes every month?" Sirius asked me softly. 

"He's sick, right?" Lily's head was clouded from lack of sleep. 

"He is sick…incurably sick, in fact. Remus is…a werewolf, Lily." The only sound that could be heard was the singing of the grasshoppers and other nighttime sounds. 

"But…but werewolves don't exist! They were just made up to scare Muggles and to make horror movies!" Lily said fast. She didn't see why Sirius had to meet her out in the dark like this just to pull her leg. 

"Werewolves _do_ exist, Lily. Remus got bit when he was little. Please don't act differently towards him. He was scared that we'd shun him, James, Peter, and I, when we found out," Sirius pleaded. 

"I wouldn't dream of acting differently towards him," Lily told Sirius truthfully. It was the truth, too. He wasn't any different now than when he was before, so there was no need to treat him differently. But Lily was still confused. "Why are you telling me?" 

"Because Remus and I have an idea…we haven't told anyone yet, but we'd need your help. James, being the stubborn git that he is, won't tell you and doesn't want you to help. We're going to become Animagus. We're not sure how to do it yet, but it will be illegally done somehow…will you help us?" Sirius had such a pleading sound to his voice. Lily blew air threw her teeth. 

"I guess. Can I go back to bed now? I'm pretty sure McGonagall's gonna give us a practical test tomorrow…I'm sure to fail." Lily sighed heavily. 

"You know you could always get Jamsie to help you with Transfiguration…" Lily could hear Sirius smile in the darkness. She hit him on the back of the head and stood up. Sirius stood up as she was dusting the dirt off the back of her cloak. On impulse, Sirius gave her a big bear hug.

"What was that for?" Lily asked Sirius. He shrugged. 

"I dunno."

"Okaaay. Sirius, I'm officially worried about you now." 

"You mean you weren't before?"

"Actually," Lily said as they walked back into the castle, "I've always been worried about you." They continued back to the Gryffindor Commonroom in silence, not wanting to wake up the whole castle and get into detention. When they arrived in the Commonroom, Sirius spoke. 

"Uh oh," Sirius said softly so that Lily could only hear it for they were not alone in the Commonroom. James was sitting by the fire with a scowl on his face. 

"Sirius? Come here. Now." James said harshly. 

"You'd best get to bed, Lil. See you tomorrow." Sirius whispered to Lily, who ran from under the cloak and to the girls' staircase. She did not go up to her room. Curiosity got the best of her this time. She sat down on the steps and listened to James and Sirius. 

"You told her, didn't you." James said. It wasn't a question. 

"Yes. I told you I was going to. We need her help to do this. If you'd just burry the hatchet-" Sirius was cut off by James. 

"I told you not to tell her for Remus's sake! You know he wouldn't want her to know, Sirius. You're not being a good friend to him."

"If telling her means that she's going to help us, I am being a good friend, because once we're animagus, we'll be able to keep him company during his transfiguration. _That_ is being a good friend James!" There were stomps of the feet and the voices ceased. Lily went to bed, but didn't get to sleep for hours.

Disclaimer: Maria is mine. Everything else belongs to the lovely and the talented JK Rowling. Also, some ideas I unconsciously borrowed from Tropical Fishy like purple hair…honestly, I didn't know I'd borrowed them until I re-read 'The Flower and the Stag' (everyone go read it then bug her to get the next chapter to 'Just As Long As We're Together' out, okay?)

Author's Note: I am soo sorry about the delay. I had most of this chapter written a long time ago, but then I rewrote most of it because I changed my mind. Kudos to those of you who guessed that Sirius was going to ask Lily out. that didn't happen, but it was my original plan. It still might happen, but not in this chapter, chillens. A big thanks to all of you who answered me from my plea for Beta Readers. I thank all of you. I have enough now. I won't be going on anymore trips this summer except to Dallas, but I don't know when I'm going there. I don't know how long it will take for the next chapter to come out, but I'm soo sorry this one took this long. I promised I wasn't going to take the month of June off, but I did take about a month off! sorry! Please read/review!

Love Always,

Dorthey "lazy little bugger" Star [anyone who has gotten an email from me lately will know that I've taken to signing my emails like that ;-) ]


	3. Have a Holly Jolly Christmas....

This Time Around

This Time Around

Sequel to Lily Evans

By Dorthey Star

Chapter Three

Lily stared at the book, not really comprehending what it said. 

"Lily?" She looked up to see James standing over her.

"Oh, its just you." Lily looked back down at the book, resolving to try and understand what it said. Yet everything in the Transfiguration book seemed to be written in complicated English like it was written in the 1700s. _Well it could have been,_ Lily thought to herself.

"Sirius told me I was supposed to help you with Transfiguration. Actually he told me that months ago. I wasn't going to, but after your most recent disaster in Transfiguration…I decided I'd try to help you." James smiled. Lily stuck her tongue out at him. Earlier that day, during their last Transfiguration class before the holidays, Lily had managed to Transfigure her desk into a large, vicious dog. Lily had gotten four detentions and a dog bite. Absent mindedly, Lily rubbed where her arm was bandaged. 

"Since when do you listen to Sirius?" Lily shot back. She would rather die before asking James to tutor her, but she was thoroughly humiliated after the disaster. 

"I don't. but I thought, for my own safety, I'd better help you." James sat down in the chair beside hers. 

"I don't need your help," Lily said sullenly. James grinned. 

"Course you do. You haven't turned that page in the last half hour." James sniggered. Lily hit him on the head with her hand. 

"So you've been watching me for the last half hour?" she asked. 

"No, but Peter has and he told me." James said quietly, "He fancies you." The grin on James's face grew larger. Lily shuddered and looked behind her. Peter Pettigrew was sitting, staring at Lily. His face blushed a tomato red color when he saw Lily looking at him and he looked away.

"Oh, no!" Lily moaned as she turned back to face James. 

"So do you want my help or not?" James said, changing the subject back to his original purpose. 

"Oh, no!" Lily moaned again. She shuddered once more. Throwing down her book, Lily crossed the room and went up to her dorm. Once in there, she threw herself down on the bed. Mariahad been in there looking for her Charms homework. 

"What's wrong, Lil?" Maria asked. She sat down on the edge of her bed, looking at her friend. 

"Oh, no!" Lily moaned into her pillow. The door opened once again. James walked inside. 

"Hey Lily, I think you hurt his feelings," James said. To see the grin on his face was to know the meaning of the phrase 'grinning from ear to ear.' 

"Whose feelings, James?" Maria asked, grinning in a Sirius-like manner. 

"No one, Maria." Lily said loudly, just daring James to say it. She pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at James. 

"Sorry, Maria," James said, the grin still on his face, "I can't possibly tell you that Peter likes Lily." 

"ARRGH!!!!" Lily bellowed as she lunged at James, fury written on her face. She tackled James to the floor and put the full body bind on him. His eyes looked to Maria to help, but she was laughing to hard to be of any help. Lily put her wand to his forehead and murmured a few spells. When she finally got off him (she was sitting heavily on his stomach) and took the bind off him, he crossed the room to the mirror. His hair was blue and he had lime green spots all over his face and red eyes. James glared at her and left the room. A few seconds later, Lily could hear Sirius's bellowing laughter along with other peoples. Lily smiled a ghost of a smile before turning back to Maria who had stopped laughing by now. 

"Oh, you poor, poor girl. Peter? Ugh. I feel sorry for you. Luckily tomorrow is the beginning of Christmas break. We get to go to your house, remember?" Maria smiled at her friend. Earlier that month, Lily had written her parents asking if Maria could come home over the winter holidays.Both sets of parents had consented. 

"Yeah. Are you all packed?" Lily asked. 

"Are you kidding? I've been packed for _days_! I can't wait to see your family!" Maria said, sounding excited. 

"You'll change your mind once you meet Petunia, but Daisy's a sweetheart. You'll love her." Lily smiled. 

"C'mon. Its time for dinner. We wouldn't want to keep lover-boy Pettigrew waiting now would we?" Maria spent the rest of the way down to dinner dodging Lily's curses. 

Lily woke up early the next morning. _Three weeks without James, Peter, or Sirius,_ she thought happily to herself. Not that she wasn't friends with Sirius, but he had become unbearable since he'd found out that Peter liked Lily last night. Lily rolled out of bed. Maria was already up and taking the curlers out of her hair. 

"Morning, Maria," Lily said as she headed to the showers. After taking a long, warm, shower, she dried her hair with a spell and pulled it back. When she went back into the dorms, Maria had a leather bag sitting on the bed and was checking the contents in it. 

"You ready to head down to breakfast?" Maria asked Lily once she saw that she was not alone in the dorm anymore. 

"Yeah, sure. Where are Jessica and Natalie?" Lily asked, looking around. This term, she hadn't talked to them as much as she should.

"They've already gone down to breakfast." Maria yawned. 

"Lets go then." 

When Lily and Maria arrived at Platform 9 ¾ and crossed through the barrier, Maria was so excited to meet Lily's family that she could hardly talk of anything else. 

"Why are you so excited to meet my family?" Lily asked Maria as she scanned the crowd for her parents. 

"I've never stayed with Muggles before…what's it like?" Maria asked. 

"It's normal for me…Daisy!" Lily called out to her youngest sister. 

"Lily!" A small red headed girl came out of the crowed and hugged Lily.

"Daisy, this is my friend Maria. Maria, this is Daisy." 

"Hi Maria. Will you turn my hair purple? Like Lily's was?" Daisy asked Maria. 

"No honey. We can't use magic over holidays," Maria smiled. 

"There they are. C'mon Maria." They walked over a little ways to where a red headed lady, and a blonde man and girl were standing. 

"Hello Lily," Petunia said coolly, staring at Maria. 

"Maria, this is Petunia, my mum and dad. Mum, Dad, Petunia, this is Maria." After all the introductions were made, the five people made their way to the car. 

"You have a nice family, Lily except for that older sister of yours," Maria said as she, Lily and Daisy were in Lily's room.

"Whatever you say, Maria," Lily said, but was really thinking _Life is going to be a little more bearable this holiday._

Disclaimer: Daisy, Lily's mum and dad, Natalie, and Jessica belong to me. Everyone else belongs to JK Rowling, though I won't mind owning thin **nudge, nudge, wink, wink**

Author's Note: wow, I'm on a roll! Two chapters in one day! I thought I owed it to you, but don't get your hopes up:) Anyways. Did I mention whether Maria was Muggle born or not? And did I mention what Daisy looks like (besides in this chapter, of course)? Anyways. Feel free to email me if you want to talk. I get lonesome with only Amanda and Shana to talk to ;) also, email me if you have MSN Messenger…I'll give you my email addy to add to your list if you wanna talk to me :) don't forget to review! Ciao!

Love Always,

Dorthey Star 


	4. Maria's adventures in Muggle Land

This Time Around 

This Time Around 

Sequel to Lily Evans

Chapter Four "Maria's adventures in Muggle Land"

By Dorthey Star

_"Tell me _

_what do they see_

_When they look at me_

_Do they see my many personalities?"_

Pink's _Split Personality _

_ _

**_This chapter is dedicated to Susi Q___**

_ _

On Christmas morning, Maria and Lily woke up to Daisy jumping on the bed screaming "Presents!" Lily and Maria went downstairs where Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Petunia were waiting for them. Lily got a book of complicated Charms from Remus, a toy cat that really moved from Sirius, a mirror that you could confide in from Jessica and Natalie, bottle green dress robes (the color of Lily's eyes) from Maria, and a gray cat from James and a note from all of them put into one. 

_Red Rosie,_

_How is your Christmas holiday so far? I hope you like to cat. I wrote to your parents ages ago asking them if I could get you a magical cat. Why? you ask. well, I saw this cat when my dad took me to Diagon Alley over the summer. Remus is allergic to cats, I would be scared and insane (well, more so than I am now) if I gave it to Sirius, and my mum hates cats, so I couldn't think of anyone else to give it to. I'll see you when you get back from break. _

_From,_

_James_

_ _

_Red,_

_How do you like the cat? I thought you could name it James…only joking! You should have stayed over Christmas break. Last night, we snuck into the Slytherin Commonroom and drenched Snape in toilet paper. The weird thing was, he didn't even wake up when we were doing it! We put a sleeping spell on him and we drenched him with water. I'm sure he had bits of toilet paper sticking all over his face this morning! I'll write you and let you know. Have a great break. _

_See you soon, _

_Sirius _

_ _

_Lily,_

_I knew that you are good in charms, so I got you a book of complicated charms. I was going to get you a book of hexes (to use on Sirius, James, and Snape, of course) but I saw this one and I looked through it and thought that you'd like it better. Have fun and savor your time without James and Sirius. _

_Your friend, _

_Remus_

_ _

_Lily, _

_When we tell you this, you'll be glad that you didn't stay. The whole school knows that Peter likes you…James or Sirius (don't remember which one) let it slip one day…well, the whole school doesn't know, but Snape (that foul Slytherin) does know and We're sure he'll tell everyone once break is over. We found this mirror in an ad in the daily prophet, and we thought you'd enjoy confiding your love for James in it. Just kidding! We'll see you when we do (which will hopefully be soon!)_

_Love, _

_Jessica and Natalie_

_ _

__

The rest of the day, Lily, Maria, and Daisy all tried to figure out what to name the cat. 

"How about gravy?" Daisy asked. 

"That's a stupid name," Petunia called from across the room where'd she'd been watching her sisters and Maria play with the cat. 

"Petunia," Mrs. Evans said in a warning voice. 

"Shadow. I'm naming my cat Shadow," Lily announced. The cat rubbed up against Lily's chin, showing that she approved. The rest of the day was spent playing with the gifts and getting ready for Lily's cousin Brendan Evans and his family coming for Christmas Dinner. 

"Is he cute?" Maria asked Lily once they were alone in Lily's room, getting dressed for dinner that they would be eating at the Ivy where Lily had seen Remus the year before. 

"I don't know! I don't go around saying whether my cousins are cute or not, that's just disgusting. Besides, I haven't seen him since I started Hogwarts. Don't mention it, either. If you are asked, just say that you go to boarding school with me." Lily warned as she put on a black dress. Lily and Maria were the last ones to go down stairs where the family was meeting. Lily pulled Maria to where her cousin was standing. 

"Brendan, this is my best friend, Maria from school. Maria, this is Brendan." Lily introduced Maria to her Aunt Phyllis and her Uncle Norman then they headed off to Ivy in Norman's van. 

"Muggles sure travel slow," Maria whispered in Lily's ear. 

"Wizards and witches may say that, but Muggles don't think so and they'd think that we travel fast," Lily whispered. Finally, they arrived at the Ivy. 

"Isn't this where you saw Remus last year?" Maria asked. 

"Yeah, but I think he's staying at school this time." Lily sat down at the table. Had Maria not been there, Lily would have been extremely bored. Petunia was boring Lily, Maria, Daisy, and Brendan with her talk about her best friend Marge and her older brother Vernon who loved drills. The adults were talking about things that adults talked about at dinner parties. Lily and Maria quietly discussed pranks to pull on Sirius and James. 

"Do you know who did that red paint and roses thing?" Maria asked as they left the restaurant. 

"Sirius and James haven't admitted to it, but I still think it was them." Lily allowed a small smile. When they got back to Lily's house it was late so Lily and Maria went upstairs and changed into their pajamas. Suddenly, they heard a tap-tap-tapping at the window. Lily opened it to let a tired owl in. It was Regan, Sirius's owl. 

_Lily and Maria,_

_How was Christmas? Did you two get the presents we sent? Well, Snape did__ come down to breakfast with toilet paper all over him. The sad thing was that he didn't even know__ it! This proves that he doesn't shower or look at himself in the mirror, all though I can't blame him. I wouldn't look at my self in the mirror either if I had a nose like his. I know you're probably going to kill me, but after you left I kind of let it slip around Snape that Peter likes you…poor kid, he can't go anywhere without being laughed at. They're not laughing because its funny that he would like you, well, actually they are, but its nothing bad. They're just thinking about how little of a chance he has with you as you hate him. Either that or you're madly in love with him, but you won't admit it to anyone and not even yourself so you have to front like you hate him in order to convince yourself that you don't love him, even though you do. James said that that theory couldn't be true, but I think he was just jealous because you love Peter…I'm only joking! But James still doesn't like that theory. Have you named that cat yet? I wanted it, but noooo. James thought it wouldn't be a good idea to let me have a cat. Well, I guess I'll see you soon!_

_Sirius _

_ _

Lily put the letter down after Maria had read it over her shoulder. 

_"Oh, no!" she moaned. Maria just laughed. _

"C'mon, lets go to bed." 

The next morning Lily decided she'd answer Sirius's owl. 

_Dear Sirius, she wrote_

_You know, I think James was right for once about not letting you have the cat. It is so adorable! I've named it Shadow. Daisy (my kid sister…you remember her, right?) wanted to name it Gravy, but I decided against that one. I always knew that Snape never showered or looked at himself in the mirror. I mean, just look at how greasy his hair is! For once I do feel sorry for Peter, but I feel even sorrier for myself, so I don't have much pity to waste on Peter. Maria says hi. She also wants to know why you won't admit to dumping the red paint and roses on me (I want to know that too!). Give everyone there my love (not James or Peter though…) Merry Christmas,_

_Lily and Maria _

Lily gave it to Regan who had stayed there over night. 

"So what are we doing today?" Maria asked. 

"Well, I thought we might go see a play. 'A Midsummer night's Dream' is in town." Lily said. So, after lunch, the two girls set off to the theater to watch the play. They wildly discussed it afterwards. 

"Was the fairy a guy or a girl?" Maria asked. 

"That's a good question. It was played by a girl today, but in Shakespeare's days they didn't have women actors; they were all men." Lily said. 

"Who is Shakespeare?" Maria asked. Lily was about to shout _'You don't know who Shakespeare is?!' but she remembered that Maria was a witch and magical people didn't know who he was. _

"He wrote 'A Midsummer night's Dream' and a whole bunch of other plays like 'Romeo and Juliet' 'Othello' and 'Hamlet.' His plays are very popular." Lily explained. 

"Oh! He's kinda like Fredrick Van Statton, right?" Maria asked, smiling. 

"Who?"

"He's famous for his plays like 'I Fell in Love with a Vampire.' I went to see that over the summer. He's a genius, he really is."

"Oh, so he's a playwright?" Lily asked, finally understanding. 

"Yup."

Too soon for both girls' enjoyment, summer holidays were over and it was time for them to go back to Hogwarts. 

"Bye Daisy. I'll see you in June and I'll write you loads, sweetie," Lily said and hugged her sister. Shadow rubbed against Daisy's leg and purred loudly. 

"Bye, Lily. Bye Maria." Daisy said and hugged each of them. Mrs. Evans hugged both the girls and they walked through the barrier. 

"Your family is so nice. Except for Petunia."

"I warned you about her. She's a brat. That was funny when Shadow attacked her!" Lily laughed. A few nights before, Shadow had attacked Petunia, who was now pretty scratched up. 

"Yeah. I don't see how anyone can be so…so…"

"Boring?"

"Yes! That's the word."

"I don't know either. I've known her all my life, and I still haven't figured it out yet."

"What I want to know is how can she be related to you? I mean, you two are completely different. You even have different looks," Maria sighed and sat down in a seat across from Lily. 

"I'm not totally sure how we're related. Maybe I'm adopted?" Lily said hopefully. 

"Nah, I doubt it. Hey, did we have any Potions homework?" Maria asked. 

"Oops! Yeah, we do! We have the essay on the theory behind truth telling draughts," Lily said and quickly pulled out her Potions book. 

"Shot, Professor Hauffle the Awful will kill us if we don't finish it!" Maria moaned and pulled out her own book. Professor Hauffle (nicknamed Hauffle the Awful by the students) was their new Potions master, replacing Professor Lewis who now was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Professor Hauffle had long white hair and brown eyes. She was very strict with everyone except the Slytherin. 

The rest of the train ride was spent working on their essays.

Disclaimer: Natalie, Jessica, Maria, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Evans, Daisy, Professor Lewis, and Professor Hauffle the Awful are all my characters. James Potter, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and Severus Snape all belong to Joanne Kathleen Rowing; I am only borrowing them for my own evil uses. The chapter title was borrowed momentarily from Susi Q.

Author's Note: This chapter is out just in time for Labor Day ;) Did everyone hear about Aaliyah? I was SO SHOCKED to hear that she died. My sister came in and told me and I was like 'no way, she can't be dead.' Anyways. Please R/R. I'll try to get out the next chapter soon…Next year it won't be so easy as I'll have band from 1:40-5:30 most days and loads of homework (ah, the joys of high school). But this is this year and I will have time. Maybe I'll even have time to write a better profile *gasps* And I leave you with this final note. GO RAZORBACKS! (they're playing tonight, ya know. 

"Remember, always treat your flute like you would your boyfriend" as Katy said in band yesterday, to which I replied "So you mean, control it, play it, and take it home every night?" er…sorry…

Love Always, 

Dorthey Star


	5. Hauffle the Awful

This Time Around"

This Time Around"

Sequel to "Lily Evans"

by Dorthey Star

Chapter Five: Hauffle the Awful 

**_For Landry Ann who is in my thoughts and prayers. _**

**_ _**

Before Lily knew it, February had rolled around again. To some this meant, well, it was the second month in the year. To others it mean cold weather. And to that smaller part, made up mostly of girls and Lockheart, it meant the evil V holiday (as most boys referred to it as). Yes, I am talking about Valentines Day. 

Normally Lily didn't mind Valentines Day. At her Muggle school they would have a small party every year that mainly consisted of passing out little store bought paper valentines with a bit of candy attached. This resulted in many wild kids. This year, however, Lily was dreading what Peter would do. The whole schoolknew that he liked her, and she often had to face taunts about it. She now tried to avoid that whole lot: James, Peter, Sirius, and even Remus. This was hard to do as they were in the same house and year meaning they had all their classes together. 

"Is he coming?" Lily whispered to Maria as Maria peeped around the corner on Valentines Day. 

"No, I think it's clear until the Great Hall," Sirius, who had slipped up unnoticed behind Lily, whispered into her ear. Lily jumped up, startled. 

"Um, hi, Sirius. Me an' Maria were just going…to…um…" Lily trailed off and looked at Maria hopefully. 

"Back to our dorms. Lily seems to have forgotten her marbles," Maria rolled her eyes and started to head back to the dorm. 

"Actually, I think I lost them the first time I came to Hogwarts," Lily muttered to Maria who giggled. 

"We play Ravenclaw tomorrow, Lil," Maria commented suddenly. 

"Yes, James informed me of that. He also informed me that I would be sitting with Peter. I want to go to watch you play, but I would have no one…wait, I'll just sit with Sukie!" Lily grinned. James had made the Quidditch team as a Chaser (he originally tried out for Seeker) and Maria had made it as a Beater. Sirius would be doing the commentary at the match the next day. 

"Fraternizing with the enemy?" Maria asked, cocking one eyebrow, as they arrived inside the dorm. 

"No, just…Sukie. Is there any reason to be up here besides the obvious?" Lily as she stroked Shadow who was purring loudly. 

"Nope, not really," Maria said and they headed down to breakfast. 

Their last class that Valentines Day was Potions with Awful Hauffle. 

"Sit. Now!" she roared as she walked into a classroom full of kids that were wild from the chocolate frogs that Professor Reed (the Astronomy teacher that had a soft spot for kids) had given out as awards in their Theory class. Soon, everyone in the class was sitting still. When Professor Hauffle was mad, her eyes did the most peculiar thing…they turned from dirt brown to ice blue. It scared the living bit out of Lily. So, more often than ever, Professor Hauffle's eyes were ice blue. "My grandson was better behaved than all of you put together," she muttered. Professor Hauffle often talked about her son, comparing them to him. He'd found himself a suitable wife and he already had a promising career ahead of him, and they were here, playing chase in the dungeons. Her grandson was Lucius Malfoy who had been in 7th year the year before. 

"Miss Brookes and Mr. Rudiment, pick up the homework. Everyone else get out your books and turn to page 110." Professor Hauffle sat down at her desk. Olivia Brookes had short brown hair and wore glasses. She would have been a slight bit pretty, but she was always sneering. Alexander Rudiment (not to be confused with Alex Crabbe) had very short honey blonde hair that stuck straight up. He was a show off and always trying to be the best in everything. They moved silently around the room picking up people's homework as the other Slytherins and Gryffindors got out their books silently. 

"Since you've had a bit of chocolate," she said disapprovingly, "this class period will be focused on Potions Theory. Why the potion works like it should, in other words. Do questions 1-100. They are due next Friday. Get to work now." Hauffle the Awful said. Lily looked at the first question. 

_1. __Why will adding holly berries affect a Polyjuice Potion? _

Lily sighed quietly in frustration. She had no idea what the answer was and knew she'd be spending a lot of time in the library. The whole class period went by in silence for no one dared to even put a _toe out of line with Hauffle the Awful. True, she favored Slytherin but this only meant taking off 10 points instead of 25. When the bell finally rang, everyone shot out of the classroom. _

That night, while looking for a spare quill in her bag, Lily found a piece of what looked to be Muggle construction paper. Lily took it out of her bag. It was purple with a red heart on the front that was covered in glitter. Inside there was simply _Happy Valentines Day but with no signature. Lily hurried and shoved it back into her bag. She wasn't sure if Peter sent it or if it was a joke from Sirius and James who were sitting in a far corner with their heads together, talking excitedly. She glared at them and went back to her homework. _

[I thought about ending it here, but since I'm on a roll and wouldn't be able to sleep anyways, I'll continue.] 

The next morning donned rainy, cold, and windy. They were the worst conditions for Quidditch that Lily had seen yet. Maria was nervous. 

"Lily, I'll fall off my broom, or I'll miss the Bludger. I won't be able to see a thing in this weather, and…and…oh no…_why did it have to be such awful weather?" she moaned all the way down to breakfast. James, who had been up early like Maria, who had woken Lily up, had been, was walking down with them to breakfast. _

"At least you don't have to catch anything. I'll be trying to catch the wet Quaffle," James said in a very un-James like manner, which was nervous. 

"I'm sure you'll do fine. I mean, weren't you just saying that Clara Traddles was the worst choice for captain and she wouldn't know a plan if 'QUIDDITCH PLAN' was written in large, friendly letters on the front cover in three inch high red words? Besides, you all seem to like Kent well enough-" James cut Lily off. 

"Yeah, but he is dating Clara. If she asked him to forfeit the game, then he would. This is not good, not good at all," James moaned. Clara and Kent were both seventh years. 

"Would he really? I want a boyfriend like that…someone who would do anything that I asked…" Maria sighed wistfully, all thoughts of falling off her broom or missing the Bludger were driven out of her mind for the moment being. 

"That would be nice, wouldn't it? But I s'pose that's just as likely as pigs flying," Lily sighed, forgetting she lived in a world where, with a flick of the wand, pigs _could fly. _

"That would be simple enough, the pigs flying I mean. Just a simple Win-" James started, but Lily cut him off. 

"I know that charm, thank you very much Mr. high-and-mighty. I meant _without magic," Lily said as they arrived in the Great Hall. It was mostly deserted except for a few students who were sitting sleepily over their breakfast. _

"I meant without magic," James mimicked and strode in front of them to the Gryffindor Table. 

The rain had mostly stopped by the time they got outside to start playing Quidditch. 

"Here," Lily said and took James's glasses off his face. She pointed her wand at them and said, "_Impervius. It will repel the water." She handed the glasses back to James as he said his thanks in a distracted manner. Lily went to sit with Natalie and Jessica and the game started. _

"And they're off," Sirius said. "Ravenclaw in possession. Wickfield to Malden. Malden to Gummidge. They attempt to score and SAVED! Douglas makes a spectacular dive and saves the ball! Gryffindor in possession. Potter to Jennings. Jennings to Lemmings. Lemmings back to Potter and he attempts and he SCORES! 10-0 Gryffindor! Ravenclaw in possession. Wickfield to Malden. Malden drops the ball and was hit by a Bludger from Blankenship. Gryffindor in possession. Lemmings to Potter. Potter to Jennings and she SCORES! 20-0 Gryffindor. Ravenclaw in possession. Malden to Gummidge. Attempt made and BLOCKED by Douglas! Gryffindor seeker, Abbot goes for the snitch and- FOUL! THAT WAS A BLOODY FOUL!" Sirius howled as he saw Ravenclaw beater, Jonathan Barkis, hit Kate Lyn Abbot over the head and knocked her own. Professor McGonagall, who was refereeing the game, gently floated her on to the ground and sent her up to the castle with Professor Reed. 

"Foul on Ravenclaw. Time out for Gryffindor." Professor McGonagall called out. The Gryffindor team huddled under an umbrella that someone had brought out. 

"What are we going to do, Kent?" Grace Lemmings asked worriedly. She was best friends with Kate Lyn. 

"We have a reserve Chaser, so I'm going to need one of you to play Seeker. James, how about you? Do you think you could do it?" Kent asked. 

"Sure. Who's our reserve Chaser?" James asked. 

"Molly Halters. Here she comes." Kent said. A girl with long black hair came running up. "Molly," Kent said, "We need you to take James's place. Now, let's go and win this game!" The team mounted up on their brooms after Kent spoke to Professor McGonagall briefly. 

"Gryffindor Seeker, Kate Lyn Abbot, is out for the game," Sirius said furiously. "James Potter has taken her place for the game and reserve Chaser, Molly Halters, has been brought in. Grace Lemmings throws the foul ball for Gryffindor and she misses! Ravenclaw in possession. Malden to Gummidge. Gummidge to Wickfield and back to Malden. They attempt and SCORE! 20-10 Gryffindor. Gryffindor in possession. Jennings to Lemmings. Lemmings to Halters who drops the ball. Quaffle is caught by Lemmings. Lemmings to Jennings. Jennings attempts and SCORES! 30-10 Gryffindor!" This went on her about another hour. There were no more sighting of the snitch. Finally, the score was 110-80 Gryffindor. 

"Potter goes into a dive and CATCHES THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS 260-80!" Lily rushed down to the field to find Maria. 

"We did it! Maria yelled to Lily. "We won!"

Disclaimer: Maria, all the Quidditch players (except for James), Sukie, Jessica, Natalie, and Hauffle the Awful, and Professor Reed all belong to me. Everyone else belongs to the goddess, Joanne Kathleen Rowling. 

Author's Note: it's 11 o'clock at night and way too late to be writing an author's note. Why am I up at 11 on a Saturday night when I have church in the morning? Well, I made a goal that I was going to get this chapter out….*blinks sleep out her eyes* and so I've been working on it…nonstop (except to take a shower, of course). This chapter didn't go to my loverly beta reader, Amanda, so if there are any mistakes blame them on me writing this at 11 o'clock at night. Anyways. I planned to say a bit about what has taken place in New York City and Washington DC (my chapter was originally dedicated to those who have and will be affect by these events, which is everyone, but since I found out about Landry's situation, I decided to change it), but its just too late and it would make the author's note way too long. I will be posting a series of 10 short stories (I have 2 of them written already) that deal with what's happened. No political views of mine are in them meaning I don't say who I thought did it or whatever. I'm writing stories from different point of views. I will not, however, be writing a story from the hijacker's POV because I cannot even fathom wanting to do something like this. *shudders* . Should these stories be called "From Sea to Shining Sea" or "Free to be Free" ? Please tell me in the review I know you're going to write.May God bless America. 

Love Always, 

Dorthey Star

"If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most common basic link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal."

--President John F. Kennedy, 1963


	6. The Bones

This Time Around 

Sequel to _Lily Evans_

by Dorthey Star

Chapter 6: The Bones

            _For Savannah just because. _

_"I have never had a vote and I  have raised hell all over this country. You don't need a vote to raise hell; you need convictions and a voice!"_

_-- Mother Jones, 1914_

            "What happens when someone fails their final exams?" Lily asked Maria as they were walking alone the lake one day in early March, a week before the next Quidditch match. 

            "I dunno. I don't think it's actually happened before," Maria said thoughtfully. "I guess they stay in that year. Why?"

            "Oh, no reason. I just always wondered," Lily said nonchalantly. 

            "You want Peter to fail…am I right?" Maria said, a sly grin appearing on her lips. 

            "Actually, no," Lily said, looking surprised. "I can't believe that thought didn't come in to my mind."

            "I'm surprised it didn't, too!" Maria laughed. For the past four or five months, Lily had been trying to figure out ways to deal with Peter. 

            "Erugh! Who are we playing next Saturday?" Lily changed the subject as she shoved her hands in the pockets of her bronze colored cloak.

            "Slytherin," Maria sighed. 

            "At least Malfoy isn't on their team anymore."

            "Yes, according to Hauffle the Awful, he's the best Quidditch player Hogwarts has seen in a long time," Maria said sarcastically. 

            "Who took his place?" Lily asked. 

            "Their Quidditch team is David Anderson, Edward Lewis, and Greg Davis are Chasers. Ellis Wicks and Ange Goodrich are Beaters and Ange is captain. Olivia Brookes is seeker, and Jennifer Sims is Keeper," said a cheery voice from behind them. Maria and Lily turned around simultaneously to see Sirius standing behind them with his usually goofy grin on his face. 

            "Oh, its you. I thought it might have been someone important," Lily said and started to turn around to leave, but Sirius spoke first. 

            "I have some news for you that you might enjoy hearing," Sirius said. 

            "Oh, and what is this? Is James moving away?" 

            "Nope. It's about Peter." Sirius said carefully, knowing this was not the topic to be discussing with Lily. 

            "I don't want to hear it." Lily said stubbornly. 

            "Yes you do," Sirius insisted. 

            "If you are telling me for the hundredth time that-" Lily started, but was cut off by Sirius. 

            "Peter doesn't like you anymore," Sirius said cheerfully. Lily stopped in mid-step and mid-sentence. 

            "_What?" she asked, hardly being able to believe her ears. _

            "Peter. Does. Not. Like. You." Sirius spoke slowly as if he was talking to someone a few cards short of a deck. 

            "Now you don't have to drown him, Lily!" Maria said, sounding as relieved as Lily felt. 

            "Drown poor Peter? You wouldn't!" Sirius said, sounding shocked. 

            "I wasn't going to you twit!" Lily said rolled her eyes. Suddenly, it started to snow. 

            "Great," Maria moaned. "The Quidditch match is either going to be canceled or we'll have to play in _this weather!" At that moment, James came running out of the castle just as the winds picked up and it started to snow harder. _

            "Maria!" he called. "They're having a meeting. All the Quidditch players in the Great Hall!" He ran up to them. 

            "Right now?" she asked. 

            "Yes!" he said, adjusting his cloak to make him warmer. "Hey, weren't you supposed to get a plain black cloak?" he asked her. 

            "Yeah, but this one was so pretty…besides, I _have a black one. It doesn't mean that I wear it all the time," Lily said. James and Sirius exchanged a shrug and Maria and James headed back to the castle. _

            "You weren't really going to drown Peter were you?" Sirius asked, trying to make conversation as they continued to walk by the lake. 

            "What do you think?" Lily asked dryly. Then, she asked, "Do you think they'll play Quidditch if it snows a lot?" 

            "I dunno. I mean, the only thing they use to ground for is to kick off of and to land on. I guess it really depends on what the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams want." They lapsed into silence again. Lily shook her hair to get the snow off of it.

            "We should be getting back inside, Si," Lily shivered. 

            "Yeah, you might be seen wearing non dress code clothes and get, the horror of it, a _detention!" Sirius gasped in mock horror. _

            "You shut up, or I won't help with your illegal acts," Lily said smartly and Sirius clapped a hand over her mouth. 

            "If someone hears anything about that, we'll get expelled for sure!" Sirius hissed into her ear. 

            "Sorry." They walked along in a comfortable silence until they reached the castle. Then Lily spoke again. "Hey, Sirius, I'm really sorry for avoiding you and Remus, but I really couldn't stand anymore of that taunting," Lily sighed. 

            "I understand. What about James and Peter? Did you not miss their company, too?" Sirius grinned. Lily was about to explode on him, but she caught the smile in his eyes. 

            "Oh yes, I was just languishing over it," she said sarcastically. 

            "You want some hot cocoa?" Sirius asked. 

            "Sure, but where-" Lily started, but was cut off. 

            "You'll see," Sirius said mischievously. 

            "Where, Sirius," Lily demanded, "are you taking me? Tell me!"

            "Trust me," he said slyly. 

            "That is something I've never done," Lily said in a cynical tone of voice. Then after a moments thought added, "but it's possible I _might someday…in the far off future, of course." They walked in silence, except for Sirius humming some song, until they reached a large picture of a fruit basket. He reached up and tickled the pear. Lily was about to ask what he was doing when a doorknob appeared. Sirius opened the door and there was the kitchens. Hundreds of tiny creatures were hurrying about. _

            "House elves," Sirius said and stepped into the kitchens. 

            "I know what they are, twit. I read about them in a book once," she informed him. 

            "Sirius Black," one house elf said excitedly. 

            "They know your name?" Lily asked with one eyebrow cocked. 

            "Sirius Black and James Potter are always here," Sirius said, mimicking a house elf. 

            "Three meals a day at this place aren't enough for you two elephants?" Lily asked giggling. 

            "Nope," Sirius said, then he turned to the nearest house elf, "Hot cocoa." The house elf rushed away and returned with two steaming mugs a second later. Lily sipped hers contentedly. The cocoa was perfect; it had just the right amount of flavor and it was neither too hot nor too cold. 

            "House elves come with large manors, right?" Lily asked Sirius. 

            "Yup. Jamie's  family has a couple of them. The Malfoy's have some, too," Sirius said. 

            "What about your family?" Lily asked, fascinated. 

            "We used have one, but Mum let it go when she was fighting with Dad. It was funny, really. Its name was Bauble or something like that. Mum gave it her silk blouse that Dad brought from Muggle Paris for her. She really regretted it later."

            "Why did she give it the blouse?"

            "In order to let house elves go, fire them in other words, you have to give them a piece of clothes. That's why all the house elves you see here are wearing tea towels. Once they are given even a sock they're free to go. They have very powerful magic." Sirius concluded. Lily nodded. 

            "There's just so much to learn about the Magical World. I think I shall always be ignorant about some things," Lily sighed. 

            "Ignorant?" Sirius asked. 

            "It means uninformed. If you are ignorant on a subject, then you are uninformed about it, you know nothing about it," Lily explained. 

            "Too bad you couldn't be ignorant about Voldemort," Sirius said darkly. 

            "What did he do now?" Lily asked. She had been cut off from the magical world all summer and over Christmas break. 

            "He's killed more people. The Bones this time. Angelica Bones and Paul Bones were two of the most powerful witches and wizards in the world. They had a little girl named Caitlin. She was just a few months old. Angelica and Paul…I knew them, but not that well. You see, they are- were- James's aunt and uncle." 

[Untimely Author's Note: you know, I _almost cut the story off here and left it at a cliff hanger, but then I'd have to snap my pen in half and it really is a nice pen…a blue one with a grip. Ergo, I will continue….] _

            "His aunt and uncle?" Lily gasped. 

            "Yeah. Angelica was James's mum's younger sister. But Mrs. Potter and Angelica never got along. They hated each other. The only good thing about Paul was that he didn't go over to the dark side. I supposed that the only reason he didn't was because he like Mrs. Potter too much. Every time they were around, he tried to seduce her. I remember that from one of the few time I met him. I never saw Caitlin."

            "Poor James," Lily said, not caring that she was feeling pity for her enemy, "He didn't even let on that part of his family was killed."

            "I guess he doesn't want too many people to feel sorry for him. If he finds out that I told you, he'll kill me," Sirius said cheerfully as they finished off their hot cocoa. 

            "Well, I for one will help keep his life normal by ignoring him as usual," Lily declared as they walked back up to Gryffindor Tower. When they got inside the Common room, James and Maria, along with the other members of the Quidditch team, were sitting by the fire, all with grim looks on their faces. 

            "David Anderson quit the team. Apparently, Malfoy had a younger sister. Her name is Lucinda. She's the new Chaser." James said. 

            "Lucinda and Lucius. Ha. That's kind of…cute in a way. So what's this got to do with anything?" Lily asked, forgetting that she was supposed to be ignoring James. 

            "Nothing, really. He just is disappointed because the moment we walked in, he said 'Whoa, she's pretty!' then he found out she's a Malfoy and a Slytherin. It broke the tiny heart I'm sure he has somewhere inside there…deep down," Maria said perfectly cheerfully. James only glared at her. Lily and Sirius sat down on the couch between Maria and James's chairs. 

            "So are you playing tomorrow?" Sirius asked. Shadow jumped up into Lily's lap and she stroked her, causing the cat to purr loudly. 

            "Unfortunately, yes," Maria said and sighed, remembering why she had been so upset in the first place. 

            "Bloody Slytherins," James muttered. 

            The day of the match dawned white and cold. There was no wind to speak of, and it had stopped snowing. The sun was out and bright-that could be good or bad. Lily didn't want to get out of bed. The sheets had become magically warm, and Shadow was curled up right against her, making it very comfortable indeed. But Lily knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep in. Just as she predicted, moments later Maria pulled apart Lily's curtains to wake her friend up. 

            "Wake up, sleepyhead!" Maria said cheerfully and then sat down in front of the mirror to take down her curlers. 

            "Do you ever go a day without those curlers?" Lily asked, yawning as she got up. 

            "Nope. Nobody here knows what I look like with straight hair. I like my hair curly better, but my mum won't make it permanent. She says that using magic on looks is just a waste of perfectly good magic, so I'm to do it the Muggle way, with curlers."

            "Why don't you just get a perm?" Lily asked as she got dressed. 

            "A perm? What's that?" Maria asked excitedly. Ever since spending Christmas with Lily's family, she was very interested in Muggles and Muggle things. 

            "It's where chemicals are put in your hair to make the curls permanent. Petunia got a perm once. Curls didn't suit her at all," Lily said, shuddering from the memory of it. They finished getting dressed and walked down to the great hall in silence. They took seats across from James and Sirius. 

            "Perfect day for Quidditch, eh, Lily?" Sirius grinned, earning himself a glare from both Maria and James. 

            "I love the winter, don't you, Sirius? All the snow and wind and coldness…" Lily said, catching on to the game. 

            "C'mon, Maria. We don't have to take this," James said, standing up. He and Maria left the Great Hall while all Lily and Sirius could do was laugh hysterically. 

            "It's about time for the game, Si. We should head on down there," Lily said after they'd been eating in silence for a while.

            "Okay. You gonna sit with me? Remus is sick, and Peter is boring company," Sirius said.    

            "Sure." The two got up and walked out of the castle and down to the Quidditch pitch. Lily wrapped her Gryffindor colored scarf around her as the cold wind hit him. 

            "You know, Sirius, I do feel sorry for them, having to play in this weather. It's _freezing!" Lily said, her teeth chattering, as they sat down on the seats that had been magically warmed. _

            "I know. At least they'll both be moving around a lot. Maybe it'll warm them up," Sirius said.  

            "And their off!" yelled Trevor Bell, a sixth year Hufflepuff that was doing to commentary (Professor McGonagall had forbidden Sirius from doing it again until he was "more mature" as she put it). "Slytherin in possession, Malfoy to Lewis, Lewis back to Malfoy. Malfoy attempts a score and SAVED by Douglas! Gryffindor in possession. Potter to Lemmings, Lemmings to Jennings. Jennings attempts and SCORES! 10-0 Gryffindor. Slytherin in possession…" Lily stopped listening to the commentary and just watched the game. An hour and a half later, Kate Lynn caught the snitch and Gryffindor won, 380 to 140. Lily and Sirius, after screaming wildly and hugging each other, ran down on the field to meet James and Maria. 

Disclaimer: you know what's mine and what's JKR's right:? Right.

Author's Note: yay! I finally finished it! I figured I owed it to you. I mean, I haven't uploaded in so long…anyways. I'm getting tired of writing Quidditch matches, you know? They get boring after a while. I guess you could tell I was tired of writing them with this one, no? Also, I'm very disappointed that no on noticed a major error. I said that Lucius's dad was Prof. Hauffle's son, right? Well, it couldn't be because her last name should be Malfoy then. Well, we're going to pretend that Hauffle had remarried, k? k. Puhlez review? Also, if you have any good Draco/Hermione or Draco/Ginny fic suggestions for me to read, I'm all ears! Er, eyes? Ta ta! 


	7. Going Home

  
_This Time Around_

Chapter Seven: Going Home

  
Lily looked around at the dorm. Posters were taken off the wall, various hair care items were packed away, and there were no clothes strewn about the floor. 

            "I'm gonna miss this place," she said, sighing heavily and sitting on her packed truck. 

            "We're only going home for the summer, Lily!" Maria laughed, joining Lily on the trunk. "You sound like we're Seventh Years and we won't be coming back."

            "I know, but life with the Muggles is so _boring_!" she whined. Maria laughed again and got off the trunk. 

            "Maybe you can come stay with me for a little bit," she said and closed her trunk. Natalie and Jessica hurried over to Maria and Lily. They all exchanged hugs.

            "I'm going to miss you girls!" Natalie said. 

            "My goodness!" Maria exclaimed. "We'll see each other in September. It's not like it's going to be years before we see each other!" Lily laughed.

            "C'mon. If we don't go down to breakfast now Sirius and James will have eaten all the food," Lily said. She linked arms with Maria and the two of them skipped down to the Great Hall. When they entered, they found Sirius and James, with full plates, sitting next to Remus and Peter. Lily and Maria sat down across from them. 

            "Are you going to miss me, Jamie boy?" Lily asked slyly. 

            "Oh, of course, Red Rosie…I won't have anyone to pick on with you gone," James replied and smiled sweetly. 

            "You have Sirius. Play some pranks on him. You know, I've never seen you prank each other," she said and put some toast and sausage on her plate. 

            "That's because if one pranks the other, the other will get them back worse, therefore we've made a truce," Sirius said. 

            "Too bad. It would have been fun to see how bad you would have gotten each other," Maria said. After breakfast, Lily and Maria went back to their dorms one last time to see if they had gotten everything. Before they knew it, they were on the Hogwarts Express and on their way home.

            "Oi! Potter! Black! Lupin! Pettigrew! Wanna play some Exploding Snap?" Lily called out to the Marauders, who were sitting in the next compartment over. 

            "Sure!" the boys called and came over to join them. _Time sure flies when you don't want to go home,_ Lily sighed as she got off the Hogwarts Express. 

            "LILY! LILY! LILY! LILY! LILY!" a little girl screamed. Lily turned towards the voice and saw Daisy running towards her. 

            "I missed you Daisy," Lily said as she caught her sister in a hug and picked her up. 

            "I missed you too. Guess what! Petunia's friend set her up with her brother and Tunia's been going on about him _all_ week. He's _so_ boring. I'm glad you're back. Will you change my hair purple? _Please_?" Daisy said, all in one breath. Lily laughed.

            "I'm sorry, honey. I can't use magic over the summer," she said. 

            "Oh," Daisy said, sounding disappointed. Lily gave Maria one last hug and waved at the Marauders one last time before heading with her parents and sister to their car. 

            "How was school, Lily?" Mrs. Evans asked. 

            "Oh, it was, you know, pretty good," Lily said a little sadly. 

            "What's wrong, honey?" Mrs. Evans asked.

            "Nothing. I'm just going to miss my friends, that's all. So who's this new guy of Petunia's?" Lily asked.

            "Vernon Dursley. You remember her  friend Marge, right? Well, he's her brother," Mrs. Evans said. 

            "Oh. I think I remember Marge. She was the one that loved breeding dogs, right?" Lily asked.

            "Right. Oh, and she's going to be staying with us for a while this summer," Mrs. Evans said. _Great,_ Lily thought, _this is going to be one long summer._

Disclaimer: everything belongs to JKR except Maria, Natalie, and Jessica. 

Author's note: Ok, so after a year and half, here's the last part. Sometime in the near future, I will be posting a sequel to this, which will take place in fifth year. Thank you soooo much for your help (er- I don't have your name by me, but you know who you are!). Thank you to everyone who has reviewed in the past. It really means a lot to me. 

Love,   
Dorthey Star     


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